5⃣ stories of the day: Atleti without Julián?, Flick and Arsenal excite

5⃣ stories of the day: Atleti without Julián?, Flick and Arsenal excite In the wake of a spectacular Saturday and ahead of a Sunday expected to be at least just as good, here are the five stories you can’t miss to start the day. These are the stories of the day... Real Madrid win, but only impress in spells... 📸 OSCAR DEL POZO - AFP or licensors Real Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano 4-1 but still failed to fully convince the Santiago Bernabéu despite the emphatic scoreline. Los Blancos went into the break 3-0 up, but after a poor second half in which Camello started to cause concern with his goal and Rayo began to grow into the game, the whistles returned. A brilliant Arda Güler and a goal from Mbappé wrapped things up to make it 4-1 in the end. A day for a Barça side full of promise 📸 JOSEP LAGO - AFP or licensors Barcelona are hugely exciting right now. Even Flick was asked about the strong praise from the club members for the team’s football and for him personally, and he responded like this in his press conference... "I’m just the coach. The players are the ones who play. So far everything is going well, I’m happy. I’m not the most important part of the club, the players are. Because of their mentality and attitude." To keep up their perfect record and that sense of excitement, Barça travel to Levante, who are coming off a superb home performance against Betis. Luis Castro’s side will be tough opponents for the blaugrana. No Barrios, no Sørloth and... no Julián? Trip to Anoeta 📸 Angel Martinez - 2026 Getty Images Atlético de Madrid will try to make up for their defeat at Anfield against Liverpool by seeking revenge against Real Sociedad, the side that took the Copa del Rey away from them last season. But to do so, they will have to travel to Anoeta without Sørloth, without Pablo Barrios, who is out with a soleus injury, and seemingly also without Julián Álvarez, who pulled out with physical issues in the session before the match. Racing and Espanyol win, Athletic and Elche fail to convince 📸 Juan Manuel Serrano Arce - 2026 Getty Images Real Racing Club beat Alavés thanks to another outstanding performance from Zabiri. Something similar happened with Espanyol in their visit to El Sadar, where they beat Osasuna 0-2 with a brace from Roberto Fernández. Meanwhile, Athletic Club and Elche drew in a match where Iñaki Williams had to cancel out Buonanotte’s goal. Terzic’s side were the better team and deserved to win, but they were not clinical in front of goal. Clear path for Arsenal, a top Dortmund and a brilliant Moreira 📸 OLI SCARFF - AFP or licensors Arsenal won in the Premier League and took advantage of the slip-ups from their possible challengers: Aston Villa, who lost 1-2 to Forest; Chelsea, who drew 2-2 with Hull; and Liverpool, who were held 0-0 by Fulham. In addition, De Zerbi’s Tottenham drew again, this time without scoring (0-0 vs Everton). Borussia Dortmund did their job in the Bundesliga by beating Paderborn 3-0 thanks to a Felix Nmecha brace and a goal from Fabio Silva. They are the only team alongside Freiburg to have won all their matches. 📸 Lars Baron - 2026 Getty Images In Italy, Diego Moreira came to Milan’s rescue with two goals in two minutes to secure a draw against Lazio. Amorim’s side can breathe again, although if Roma and/or Inter win this weekend, they will already be eight points behind the leaders. 📸 ALBERTO PIZZOLI - AFP or licensors This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.